Marketing 301 - Final Case Old Spice

Final Case – Old Spice

1. Pros of responding to DFM:

1. Old Spice might prevent DFM from getting large competitive advantage by penetrating the market.
2. DFM is launching an expensive campaign and expect the payoffs to be larger than the costs. Unilever would further duplicate successful campaign in other countries. If Old Spice responds and takes some sales away from DFM, the campaign might not pay for itself and Unilever would not duplicate it in other countries. That means that Old Spice would secure its share in international markets.

Cons of responding to DFM:

1. Old Spice might engage in an expensive head-on competition that would subsequently hurt both brands.
2. The overall cost of responding to DFM would be much larger than by promoting a product of a different category.
3. Unilever is going to spend big money on DFM. There is and opportunity for Old Spice to focus its advertising on deodorants which may help Old Spice to capture the larger share of the deodorant market.

I would not respond to DFM because I think that there is an opportunity for Old Spice to advertise deodorants and penetrate the market while Unilever is spending big money on a campaign with uncertain success.

2)  

A) Swagger campaign: 1)

Pros: - Clear positioning and target audience. Hence, the only thing for Old Spice to do is to create new advertisement.

• Proved to increase the sales of other products in the deodorant line as well.
• Possibility to introduce body wash under Swagger name.

Cons: - Promoting the same Deodorant again may bore customers and they could associate Old Spice with an image of unexciting brand.

-Unilever also changes products (even within the same line) that it promotes. I think it would be vital to react to it by also promoting different product.

B) Showtime

Pros: - Relatively-unknown product with appealing name. If positioned well, with exciting campaign, it has the potential to penetrate the younger customer target market while not hurting the sales of Swagger.

• Might again increase sales of other deodorants in the line.
• Possibility to introduce body wash under Showtime name.

Cons:

• Might cannibalize the sales and market share of Swagger.
• New repositioning needed and target audience needs to be figured out.
• Old Spice might have to invest to develop new scent.

1. Umbrella Brand:

Pros: - Might increase sales not only of deodorants, but also of body wash products.

• Might increase the brand equity by presenting the brand as a strong brand with history.

Cons: - Does not call customers for immediate actions – such as buying its products.